Lafayette men’s basketball coach Fran O’Hanlon is going to have a few challenges when camp opens up next month, the most obvious being able to find a post presence.

Jared Mintz graduated. Jake Kreuser transferred.

There are possibilities, including playing with a considerably smaller lineup.

But the Leopards made the Patriot League championship game the previous two seasons with Mintz the centerpiece of the motion offense.

There is time for all of this to play out.

Here’s a look at who Lafayette will be playing in the first two months of the season as it tries to develop a new identity.

Lafayette opens the season on the road, Nov. 11 at La Salle and Nov. 14 at St. Francis (Pa.).

The Leopards’ home opener is Nov. 16 against St. Francis (N.Y.). Lafayette plays seven teams from the NEC, including the two St. Francis teams. Lafayette then entertains Wagner on Nov. 19 and Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 22.

Lehigh’s RPI for 2011-12 won’t be as much of a problem as it was in previous seasons.

The Mountain Hawks have upgraded their schedule with perennial power conference contenders in Michigan State, St. John’s and Iowa State.

Lehigh plays eight of its first nine games on the road, beginning with the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer on Nov. 9.

Coach Brett Reed’s club then heads to Iowa State on Nov. 12.

“This year presents an exciting challenge to participate in the 2K Sports Classic,” Reed said. “It is a wonderful opportunity for us to play in a well-regarded national tournament against top-flight competition, beginning with a contest against St. John’s and its nationally top-ranked recruiting class.”

The Mountain Hawks’ home opener at Stabler Arena will be against Quinnipiac, which played in the CollegeInsider.com tournament last season.

“This year’s schedule will be challenging,” Reed said. “With eight of our first nine games away from home and only four nonleague home games, we’ll have to be very focused and perform well away from the comfortable confines of Stabler Arena where we’ve had a great deal of success. The discipline, focus and maturity hopefully gained through the taxing portions of our schedule will hopefully prepare us to be at our best at the end of the season, when once again, we face multiple opponents on the road for Patriot League Championship contention.”

Several Mountain Hawks will be playing close to home this season, highlighted by the trip to Iowa State when Gabe Knutson (Urbandale) and Corey Schaefer (Johnston) will play in their home state.

In December, Lehigh has road games at Fordham (Dec. 1) and Cornell (Dec. 3), marking the second consecutive season the Mountain Hawks will face both opponents. Lehigh then returns home on Wednesday, Dec. 7 to host Saint Francis (Pa.) before heading to Wagner three days later to face an up-and-coming Wagner team, which posted strong wins against Bucknell, Quinnipiac and Robert Morris (among others), last year. Lehigh then welcomes Arcadia to Stabler Arena on Dec. 12 on the eve of final exams.

The Mountain Hawks return to action on Dec. 22 when they head to Michigan State.

Following the holiday, Lehigh will head to defending MAAC Champion Saint Peter’s, a squad the Mountain Hawks defeated last season, 77-64. A New Year’s Eve showdown at Bryant and a home contest against Maryland Eastern Shore (Jan. 3) round out the nonleague schedule.

“I believe this 2011-12 schedule, in all likelihood, could be our most challenging schedule that we’ve ever faced since I’ve been here,” Reed said. “That’s not necessarily just because of the type of competition that we’re playing, but also the added dimension of not playing at home. It will certainly present its fair share of challenges, but we understand the bar will be set high and we’re eager to test our team to see if we can perform at the type of level needed.”

A revamped Patriot League schedule sees Lehigh opening up at Holy Cross on Saturday, Jan. 7. Then it hosts American (Jan. 11), heads to Colgate (Jan. 14), hosts Bucknell (Jan. 18), at Lafayette (Jan. 21) and host Navy (Jan. 25) and Army (Jan. 28) to round out the first time through the schedule. Lehigh’s longest home stretch runs for three games from Jan. 25 through Feb. 4 (against Holy Cross) while the Mountain Hawks play their last two regular-season games, three of their last four and four of their last six on the road. Senior Day is Saturday, Feb. 18 against archrival Lafayette.

“There are some unique challenges with the new league master schedule, especially considering that four of our final six games to close out the Patriot League regular season will be on the road,” Reed said. “Fortunately, our team will, due to the lack of home games in the nonleague schedule, be battle tested for the opportunities at the end of the year.”

The Patriot League quarterfinals are Wednesday, Feb. 29; the semifinals are Saturday, March. 3. The championship game is Wednesday, March at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

Lehigh’s RPI for 2011-12 won’t be as much of a problem as it was in previous seasons.

The Mountain Hawks have upgraded their schedule with perennial power conference contenders in Michigan State, St. John’s and Iowa State.

Lehigh plays eight of its first nine games on the road, beginning with the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer on Nov. 9.

Coach Brett Reed’s club then heads to Iowa State on Nov. 12.

“This year presents an exciting challenge to participate in the 2K Sports Classic,” Reed said. “It is a wonderful opportunity for us to play in a well-regarded national tournament against top-flight competition, beginning with a contest against St. John’s and its nationally top-ranked recruiting class.”

The Mountain Hawks’ home opener at Stabler Arena will be against Quinnipiac, which played in the CollegeInsider.com tournament last season.

“This year’s schedule will be challenging,” Reed said. “With eight of our first nine games away from home and only four nonleague home games, we’ll have to be very focused and perform well away from the comfortable confines of Stabler Arena where we’ve had a great deal of success. The discipline, focus and maturity hopefully gained through the taxing portions of our schedule will hopefully prepare us to be at our best at the end of the season, when once again, we face multiple opponents on the road for Patriot League Championship contention.”

Several Mountain Hawks will be playing close to home this season, highlighted by the trip to Iowa State when Gabe Knutson (Urbandale) and Corey Schaefer (Johnston) will play in their home state.

In December, Lehigh has road games at Fordham (Dec. 1) and Cornell (Dec. 3), marking the second consecutive season the Mountain Hawks will face both opponents. Lehigh then returns home on Wednesday, Dec. 7 to host Saint Francis (Pa.) before heading to Wagner three days later to face an up-and-coming Wagner team, which posted strong wins against Bucknell, Quinnipiac and Robert Morris (among others), last year. Lehigh then welcomes Arcadia to Stabler Arena on Dec. 12 on the eve of final exams.

The Mountain Hawks return to action on Dec. 22 when they head to Michigan State.

Following the holiday, Lehigh will head to defending MAAC Champion Saint Peter’s, a squad the Mountain Hawks defeated last season, 77-64. A New Year’s Eve showdown at Bryant and a home contest against Maryland Eastern Shore (Jan. 3) round out the nonleague schedule.

“I believe this 2011-12 schedule, in all likelihood, could be our most challenging schedule that we’ve ever faced since I’ve been here,” Reed said. “That’s not necessarily just because of the type of competition that we’re playing, but also the added dimension of not playing at home. It will certainly present its fair share of challenges, but we understand the bar will be set high and we’re eager to test our team to see if we can perform at the type of level needed.”

A revamped Patriot League schedule sees Lehigh opening up at Holy Cross on Saturday, Jan. 7. Then it hosts American (Jan. 11), heads to Colgate (Jan. 14), hosts Bucknell (Jan. 18), at Lafayette (Jan. 21) and host Navy (Jan. 25) and Army (Jan. 28) to round out the first time through the schedule. Lehigh’s longest home stretch runs for three games from Jan. 25 through Feb. 4 (against Holy Cross) while the Mountain Hawks play their last two regular-season games, three of their last four and four of their last six on the road. Senior Day is Saturday, Feb. 18 against archrival Lafayette.

“There are some unique challenges with the new league master schedule, especially considering that four of our final six games to close out the Patriot League regular season will be on the road,” Reed said. “Fortunately, our team will, due to the lack of home games in the nonleague schedule, be battle tested for the opportunities at the end of the year.”

The Patriot League quarterfinals are Wednesday, Feb. 29; the semifinals are Saturday, March. 3. The championship game is Wednesday, March at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

The senior ran her way to back-to-back PIAA Class 3A titles in the 400-meter dash.

She ran her way into a scholarship at Michigan State.

Evans made it official Friday, June 10, at a signing in the high school library at 3:45 p.m.

The soft-spoken Evans sprinted to a second consecutive title in the 400 last Saturday, winning in 55.02. She also finished fourth in the 200 (25.55). And the future Spartan helped the 400 relay team, which included her younger sister, Jody, make the finals. The relay team, minus a tired Alicia, finished seventh.

The week before at Coatesville High School, Evans won the District One 400 in 55.18. She also was third in the district in the 200 (25.00) and the 400 relay team was fourth.

Elsewhere …

Emmaus co-captain Amanda Thoet will continue her track career at Ohio Wesleyan University.

It has been all of a day or so since Ed DeChellis left as the Penn State men’s basketball coach and a name has surfaced as a potential candidate for the job.

Hint No. 1: His current title is Senior Development officer in the Leadership Gifts department.

Hint No. 2: He is working in that position at a university just an hour’s drive east of University Park.

Hint No. 3: He’s coached a visiting school several games at the Bryce Jordan Center.

OK, pretty obvious to those familiar with Patriot League basketball.

Former Bucknell coach Pat Flannery could throw his name into the pile of resumes for the job at Penn State.

Flannery was a super fundraiser while also serving as the Bison’s coach. But his real passion is basketball.

He is an outstanding bench coach and recruiter. He is demanding. He is demonstrative. He has an impressive resume.

He led his alma mater to back-to-back NCAA Tournament first-round wins in 2005-06, still the only Patriot League team to win one NCAA game. He previously won a Division III national title at Lebanon Valley.

Flannery retired from Bucknell after the 2008 season after several bouts with stress. He and his wife, Patti, have two teenage sons whom he has coached throughout their youth. Spending time with them was a major reason for him stepping down.

He was 234-178 in his 14 years in charge of Bucknell’s program. The 2006 program finished the season ranked in the AP top 25. The Bison won three regular-season titles under Flannery, who took the program to new heights a short time after Bucknell approved athletic scholarships.

Flannery has attended a smattering of Bucknell games in the last three years.

DeChellis left Penn State for another Patriot League school, Navy, a few weeks after former Midshipmen boss Billy Lange returned to Villanova to be Jay Wright’s associate head coach.

Penn State never was a consistent winner under DeChellis, though there were high points. But the Nittany Lions lost their best player (Talor Battle) to graduation and don’t have a lot of returning talent to be Big Ten contenders in 2011-12.

Does Flannery, now 53, want to go to a program that needs to be rebuilt?

Does Penn State want to take a risk on a 53-year-old coach with past stress-related health issues?

Probably more the former than the latter.

Perhaps if this were five years earlier...

The Lions likely want an up-and-comer, someone with youth and enthusiasm on his side.

One thing is for sure: With the summer recruiting season around the corner, look for PSU to act fast.

Whoa, do some Patriot League men’s basketball teams have some money games this season.

Money games are ones in which major Division I programs pay mid-majors tens of thousands of dollars to take a road trip.

Big-time Division I teams such as Duke, North Carolina, Florida and Texas need to have many more home games than road trips. They need to fill large arenas and make big bucks on concessions and merchandise to fund their coaches’ huge contracts and other lavish perks surrounding the program.

That is why a team such as Syracuse doesn’t leave the state of New York many years to play a game until Big East plays starts.

On the flip side, a few money games a season can fund a mid-major’s entire athletic budget. It also can do wonders for the league's profile and a team's seeding come NCAA tournament time.

But, man, it is tough for a mid-major to get a call in one of these games.

Despite the odds and the real reason for scheduling these games, Patriot League teams aren’t chalking them up as lost.

“We’re not practicing to lose,” Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “We know we’re heavy underdogs, but we want to compete. We want to go there and run our stuff on that stage. We want to look like a basketball team and hope this helps us with our poise.”

Here’s a look at the Patriot League’s money games in the next two months (in chronological order):

Monday, Nov. 8: Navy at Texas, 9 p.m., ESPU. This is the first game of the year for any PL team.

Friday, Nov. 12: Lehigh at Penn State, 7:30. Not as big as many of the others listed, but still a trip to a Big Ten campus.

Friday, Nov. 12: Bucknell at Villanova. Wildcats coach Jay Wright said this series was over recently after two great games, but that was until fellow Bison alum Pat Flannery retired.

Sunday, Nov. 14: Bucknell at Marquette, TBA. The Bison are the benchmark for PL schools when it comes to winning these games, with victories at Pitt, at Syracuse, vs. Kansas and Arkansas in the NCAA tournament during the Pat Flannery era.

Morning Call Sports Reporters Stephen Miller and Tom Housenick blog about high school and college sports action on and off the field in and around the Lehigh Valley, only at themorningcall.com.

Meet the bloggers

TOM HOUSENICK watches every move Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum makes on the court, laughs at every joke by Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon and watches all the Divisions II and III coaches and players do it for the love of the game. Basketball makes the cold weather season go by fast. Already can’t wait for late February and early March when each possession could result in a season ending or continuing on.

Wrapping up his ninth year at The Morning Call, STEPHEN MILLER is back for year No. 4 on the LVC football beat. He chronicled Central Catholic's state-championship run in 2010, watched Nazareth win its first LVC title in 2011 and saw the league crown tri-champions for the first time in 2012. He has also covered the Phillies, college football and a variety of prep sports while with The Morning Call. To stay updated on the 2013 LVC football season, check out the Varsity blog and follow him on Twitter @mcall_smiller.